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Local delegation to Colorado Legislature includes two fresh faces

2013 General Assembly begins Wednesday, lasts into early May

By John Aguilar Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
01/06/2013 02:00:00 PM MST

Updated:
01/06/2013 09:38:54 PM MST

State Sen.-elect Matt Jones
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Greg Lindstrom
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The topics of interest that will crop up during the Colorado Legislature's upcoming session are well known: civil unions, implementation of the state's groundbreaking recreational marijuana law, and gun control.

But several representatives and senators in the delegation from Boulder and Broomfield counties said they will also be pressing more parochial concerns under the dome, like hydraulic fracturing, energy efficiency building measures, and school choice.

The 2013 Colorado General Assembly begins Wednesday and lasts through early May.

Newly elected State Rep. Michael Foote

Incoming Rep. Michael Foote, D-Lafayette, said he would devote much of his energy during his inaugural term to oil and gas issues. Fracking, which involves injecting a water-sand-chemical mixture into the ground to extract gas trapped in rock, has generated a tremendous amount of controversy throughout eastern Boulder County as well as throughout the rest of the state.

Foote said he and his colleagues in the House will look at what constitutes an appropriate level of local oversight when it comes to drilling.

"There could be legislation regarding local control," he said.

Foote, a deputy district attorney with Boulder County, also said he will work on a bill that would provide tax incentives to people who complete energy efficiency upgrades at their homes.

"That's not only good for the environment, it's a job creator," he said.

Sen.-elect Matt Jones, who after two years is leaving the House District 12 seat Foote is assuming, will also hone in on energy efficiency legislation in the Senate. He plans to introduce a "ClimateSmart-type" bill that would help commercial building owners tap funds for efficiency improvements.

State Sen.-elect Vicki Marble, representing District 23.
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Picasa
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Jones, who served three terms in the House starting in 1987, also thinks it's important to show voters that state agencies and universities are accounting for the water and energy savings they obtain in green-rated buildings -- and he plans to push a bill that does just that.

"We want to prove that the taxpayers are getting their money's worth," he said.

With newfound Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate -- as well as a Democratic governor in power -- Jones said voters can expect to see more renewable energy and mass transit bills work their way through the State House.

"It's going to be a really busy year," he said.

State. Sen. Rollie Heath
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LEWIS GEYER
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Undoubtedly countering Jones in the Senate will be Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, who in Senate District 23 will represent Broomfield this session. It's her first time in elected office, and along with Foote, will be the only fresh face in the legislature from the Boulder and Broomfield counties delegation.

Marble, who owns a liquor store near Fort Collins, said she will relish playing the foil to any gun control legislation that gets introduced in the Senate.

Marble also wants to pursue a school choice bill that would grant tax credits to families choosing to send their children to non-public schools. There are other states in the country that have put in place such programs successfully, she said.

"They get to go to a school of their choice," she said. "It's no longer a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all program."

Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, agreed that education -- and education funding -- is at the root of everything. The veteran legislator said it's telling that the share of state funding for the CU system is now less than 6 percent of the university's budget.

"We need to grow our own workforce," he said. "If we're not funding education, it's hard for us to attract the kind of businesses we want."

And to do that, Heath said, will require unfurling the fiscal puzzle Colorado has created for itself with conflicting tax and spending measures, like TABOR, the Gallagher Amendment and Amendment 23. That won't be easy, he said.

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